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Please explain exam boards to me: why so many? Why doesn't the DofE do it?

234 replies

ParentOfOne · 09/09/2025 10:32

This is going to sound a very banal question, but can someone please explain the concept of exam boards?

In many other countries, it's the Department of Education that sets the national curriculum and prepares the national exams (GCSE, A-levels and equivalents).

  • Why do we have various boards in the UK?
  • Are they all private entities?
  • Who pays for them?
  • Has it always been like this, or was there a time when it was all done by the Department of Education?
  • How meaningful are the differences between exam boards? Eg how much of a difference is there between Edexcel maths and AQA maths?
  • Is each secondary school free to choose which exam board to follow?
  • How comparable are the programs and the difficulty? Does this create an unfair advantage, if getting a high score is easier with one board than another?
  • If there are no meaningful differences, why do we have multiple exam boards?

I have seen that Wikipedia provides some history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examination_boards_in_the_United_Kingdom but doesn't address the main questions

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ParentOfOne · 11/09/2025 09:59

@Wherehasthecatgone So you now accept that I do not have "complete lack of understanding of Christian faith." and are now retracting your earlier statement?

I don't care about Stonewall's earlier position, because Stonewall does not run any schools, and my taxes do not fund any school peddling Stonewall's ideology. See the difference?

But the same sex marriage debate shows the changing nature of ‘British Values’ - for a long time British Values excluded same sex marriage

Sure. But the difference is that British values have changed. Christian values have not.

Lots of things are allowed under law that go against Christian teaching - adultery, sex before marriage, other faiths,

You seem to forget the not-so-subtle difference between disagreeing and forbidding.

Adultery and pre-marital sex go against Christian teachings. Sure. But they are not illegal. At least in this century, no Christian lobby in the UK has ever tried to make those illegal and to say that those who engage in those activities should be arrested. They have the right to say some things are wrong. I have the right to disagree with them and do them anyway (talking about pre-marital sex, or contraception for the Catholics, not advocating adultery!)

Same-sex marriages are different, because Anglicans didn't say: "hey, we disagree, but you do you". No, Anglican bishops voted against. See the difference? See the difference between disagreeing with something, and preventing other people from doing it? The latter means imposing your beliefs onto those who have every right to disagree.

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Araminta1003 · 11/09/2025 10:01

@ParentOfOne - you are perfectly free to send your children to faith schools. You just have to meet the set criteria in the Admissions Policy. You will likely find that even the strictest criteria can easily be met by things like baptism and going to church for a set period. Your children are most welcome, always.
Most schools have admissions criteria of some sort in this country. It is all regulated and democratic via legislation and a decision for our Parliament.

Wherehasthecatgone · 11/09/2025 10:03

No, I don’t retract my statement. I don’t think you understand Christianity at all. I also think you don’t understand history.

ParentOfOne · 11/09/2025 10:05

Wherehasthecatgone · 11/09/2025 10:03

No, I don’t retract my statement. I don’t think you understand Christianity at all. I also think you don’t understand history.

Could you please explain what I have misunderstood about Christianity?

It would be most odd for me to have misunderstood something... on which I have never said anything!!!

Again, I have never made any theological comment, I simply reported the undeniable fact that Anglican bishops in the house of Lord voted against same-sex marriages.

So I ask again: what would I have misunderstood?

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Wherehasthecatgone · 11/09/2025 10:09

175 MPs voted against changing the definition of marriage too. That is how parliament works. Not everyone agrees but the majority wins and get to impose their beliefs on the minority through legislation.

ParentOfOne · 11/09/2025 10:12

You're still not explaining what I would have misunderstood about Christianity.

And you still miss the biggie that the MPs who voted against do not run schools based on an ideology which still opposes same-sex marriage. See the difference?

In fact, I think that pretty much every party in the UK (other than maybe Reform? Not sure) now agrees with same-sex marriages, while the Catholic and Anglican Churches have not changed their position.

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Wherehasthecatgone · 11/09/2025 10:20

ParentOfOne · 11/09/2025 10:12

You're still not explaining what I would have misunderstood about Christianity.

And you still miss the biggie that the MPs who voted against do not run schools based on an ideology which still opposes same-sex marriage. See the difference?

In fact, I think that pretty much every party in the UK (other than maybe Reform? Not sure) now agrees with same-sex marriages, while the Catholic and Anglican Churches have not changed their position.

Those MPs run schools based on ideologies which oppose Christian teaching.

Wherehasthecatgone · 11/09/2025 10:22

the Catholic and Anglican Churches have not changed their position

The fact that you seem to think they should says it all about your misunderstanding of Christianity.

ParentOfOne · 11/09/2025 10:29

Wherehasthecatgone · 11/09/2025 10:22

the Catholic and Anglican Churches have not changed their position

The fact that you seem to think they should says it all about your misunderstanding of Christianity.

How are you inferring that I think they should??? Why? What have I said that makes you think that?

I couldn't care less about what the Catholic and Anglican Churches think.
I simply don't want them to impose their ideology on other people. Is that too much to ask?

I simply stated that:

  • the Catholic and Anglican Churches opposed same-sex marriages, and still do
  • Anglican bishops in the house of lord voted against same-sex marriage

Both are easily verifiable facts. So I ask again: what would I have misunderstood about Christianity?

I suspect you will never admit you were wrong, will you?

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